. >> last wednesday egyptian president mohammed morsi was praised for his statesman-like and pragmatic role in brokering a cease-fire between israel and hamas. but on the domestic front it was viewed by many as a power grab as morsi faced accusations that he was trying to turn himself into the new mubarak. president morsi assumed total legislative power. in a fumble decree last week morsi unilaterally declared that the decisions he made would not be subject to appeal in any court or oversight by any authority, granting him nearly dictataldictate really power today after meeting with the judge the supreme judicial court morsi agreed to narrow the scope of his decree. joining me now is aaron david miller former middle eastern adviser for democratic and republican administrations. thank you for joining us. >> a pleasure. >> eliot: so was this a power grab or was it smart to keep the courts from derailing the egyptian move to democracy. >> i think it was both. morsi clearly faced challenges. many of these judges are mubarak holdovers, determined to create common balance. any judiciary woul